Louise Hearman (born 1963) is an Australian artist from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

who has been painting and drawing from a very young age. She mostly paints with oil on

masonite Masonite board Back side of a masonite board Isorel, Quartrboard, Masonite Corporation, Masonite, also called Quartboard or pressboard, is a type of engineered wood made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood or paper fibers. The fibers ...

, though she does work with

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

and charcoal from time to time.

Education

At high school level she attended Tintern Church of England Girls Grammar School in Ringwood in East Victoria where she showed much ability in her art classes. She attended

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

from 1982–1984.

Life and career

Hearman first came to public notice in 1986 when she spent a year painting a mural on the inside of the concrete dome of the old gymnasium at the Missions to Seamen building in Flinders Street in Melbourne. The premises also served as her studio at that time. In 1991, her work was exhibited at

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

's Drill Hall Gallery in a solo show, "The corpreal body", whilst in 1993 she was chosen by the curators for that year's

Australia Perspecta Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

exhibition. Her work next gained recognition through an appearance on the short-list for the 1999 Contempora 5 award, whilst in both 2000 and 2005 she was exhibited at the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

; in 2000 appearing in the "Uncommon World; Aspects of Contemporary Australian Art" exhibition which ran from 15 July until 22 Oct; and in 2005 within the "Big Spooks" exhibition. In 2007 her piece ''Untitled #1158'' was chosen for exhibition as part of the city of Sydney's Open Gallery exhibition, which described the roster of artists chosen as representing "leading Australian and international artists". Her portrait, ''Bill-1383'', won the 2014

Doug Moran National Portrait Prize The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize is an annual Australian portrait prize founded by Doug Moran in 1988, the year of Australian Bicentenary, Australia's Bicentenary. It is the richest portrait prize in the world with A$150,000 awarded to th ...

; while in 2016, she won the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

for her portrait of entertainer, satirist, painter and Dadaist,

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He appeare ...

Influences

Growing up in suburban Croydon, Hearman took to painting and drawing at a young age. As a child she had limited ability to travel, so her initial subjects were the landscape around her. Landscapes have subsequently formed the basis of many of her works.

Clarice Beckett Clarice Marjoribanks Beckett (21 March 1887 – 7 July 1935) was an Australian artist and a key member of the Australian Tonalism, Australian tonalist movement. Known for her subtle, misty landscapes of Melbourne and its suburbs, Beckett develop ...

has been identified by Australian arts writer, critic and broadcaster Bruce James as a possible influence on Hearman, James writing in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' in 2002 that "Hearman's interest in uncanny situations and mind states can surely trace its pedigree back to Beckett's twilight zone.". There has been some speculation that Hearman was influenced by the television show ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

''. Hearman denies this, stating that she watches very little television, and has not seen the series.Anna King Murdoch, 'The bearable lightness of being Louise Hearman, dark visionary " The Age 10/9/1999

References

External links

Artlink Journal review of Hearman's work

Artlink Journal review of Hearman's work as exhibited in the "Instinct" exhibition of 2004

Artinfo.com.au review of 2007 Tolano Galleries exhibition
by Tony Lloyd (Artist)
Archive of Louise Hearman works at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hearman, Louise 1963 births Living people Artists from Melbourne Archibald Prize winners Doug Moran National Portrait Prize winners 20th-century Australian painters 21st-century Australian painters Victorian College of the Arts alumni Archibald Prize finalists 20th-century Australian women painters 21st-century Australian women painters Women's Art Register artists Australian women artists